Automotive crawler vehicle with a scraper bowl having a bulldozer blade



"March 2, 1943.

' H. CORDES 2,312,390l

AUTOMOTIVE CRAWLER VEHICLE WITH A SCRAPER BOWL HAVING A BULLDOZER BLADE original Filed Feb. 12, y1940y 2 sheejgs-sheei v1 Fig. 1

H. CORDES March 2, 1943.

AUTOMOTIVE CRAWLER VEHICLE WITH A SCRAPER BOWL HAVING A BULLDOZER BLM-)E original Filed Feb. 12, 1940 2 she =xs-s1neet` 2 Patented Mar. 2, 1943 AUTOMTIVE CRAWLER VEHICLE WITH A SCRAPER BOWL HAVING A BULLDOZER l BLADE Hugo Cordes, Hamburg-Altona, Germany; vested in the Alien Property Custodian original application February 12, 1940, serial No. 318,597. Divided and this application October S PATENT OFFICE 23, 1940, Serial N0. 362,466. In Germany February 13, 1939 6 Claims.

Examples of automotive crawler vehicles hav- 12, 1940, Serial No. 318,597.

Moreover it is known, with dirt-moving machinery on wheels without crawlers to close the scraper bowl by a iront apron. This front apron can also be formed like a. clam shell and can be of any capacity in relation to the capacity of the scraper bowl.

According to the invention an automotive crawler vehicle having scraper bowl and frame lrigidly connected and the bowll movably positioned between the crawlers is tted with a front apron, which is also adapted to swing in a vertical plane and by which the scraper bowl can be closed oil. As it is a, drawback with crawler vehicles thus constructed that the cutting edge is not so long as the width of the ve- V movably in such a way that the blade can be turned about an. approximately vertical axis ii Ito a position crosswise or inclined tothe direct on of travel.

In addition, according to the invention, the free edge of the apron can pass the cutting edge of the scraper bowl. Thus it is possible either to dig into the ground with the cutting edge of the bowl, thus lling the bowl, and to carry the dirt in the bowl over a wide distance, or to use the bulldozer blade for making incisions and for planing Wide surfaces.

The attached drawings show the invention in two examples, where in one instance the bulldozer blade is rigidly secured to the apron and in the other instance movably connected in such a. way that it can be turned into its working -positlon crosswise or inclined to the direction -of travel about an approximately vertical axis.

Fig. 1 shows the vehicle in transporting p osition with the apron closed in longitudinal section.

Fig. 2 is a plan view o fsame.

Fig. 3 shows the vehicle in digging position in longitudinal section.

Fig. 4 shows the vehicle in dumping position also in longitudinal section.

Fig. 5 shows the vehicle with the blade lowered (levelling position) in longitudinal section.

The bowl I (Figs. l and 2) is rigidly secured to the frame 2,l which carries the motor 3 and the sprocket wheel drive 4. It has the cutting edge 5 and is movably mounted by means of the horizontal shaft 6 upon the crawler frames 1 and 29 with the crawlers 8 and with truck rollers 9. The cylinders I0 are mounted on frame 2, their pistons II acting by means of push rods I2 on levers I3, which are secured to the crawler frames 'I and 29. The cutting edge 5 will be brought to the desired level by inclining the whole vehicle frame 2 through the action wof cylinders I0. The apron I4,.which is pivoted at I5 on the bowl I is movedv by cylinders Iii pivotally joined to the bowl. The cutting edge I1 of the apron I4 comes near the cutting edge 5 tand more or less closes the bowl. To apron I4 the blade I8 is either rigidly secured (Figs.

3 and 4) or movably held in an approximately vertical axis I9 (Figs. 1, 2 and 5), by an intermediary piece 20, which pivots about the 'horizontal axis 2| on the apron I4 and has its ineline determined by the variable length of links 22. By intermediary pieces 23 and 24 of variable length the blade can be set at various angular positions to the driving directions (see dotted lines in Fig. 2).

The digging work (Fig. 3) being finished, in order to avoid loss of excavated material, the apron I4 will be closed, while the cutting edge 5 is being raised. As the blade I8 on apron I4 may hit on obstacles, and the bowl could 'not be closed then, the blade I8 must be positioned as high as possible on vapron I4 that it does not touch the ground too `early when -the apron is lowered. Hence it follows that for the bulldozing position (Fig. 5) the apron I4 must be adapted to be lowered beneath the transporting position (Fig. 1), in order to have the cutting edge 5 of the bowl high enough over the ground when working with the blade, especially when working above the travelling plane. According to the invention the edge I1 of the apron I4 can pass the cutting edge 5 until apron I 4 hits the stops 25 on the bowl I. -During this bulldozing work the blade is lowered or raised also by inclining the frame by means of the cylinders I0.

The bowl (Fig. 4) is emptied by cylinder 26 on frame 2, which pushes the rear portion 28, turnable about axis 21, in a forward direction.

Motor 3 is coupled over gear wheels with the sprocket drive wheels I and drives a pump for pressure uid or compressed air (not show);

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. An automotive crawler vehicle with a scraper bowl having means for dumping the load, the bowl being movably supported on said vehicle and with its cutting edge adapted to be lowered below the ground level characterized thereby that the bowl is provided with a movable power acit can be turned about an approximately vertical axis.

' 3. In an earth handling vehicle, a frame, a scoop bowl mounted on said frame and having a bottom, a bull-dozer blade having arms ex-y tending rearwardly of the .blade and pivoted to the bowl, means to swing the arms to raise and lower the blade, and an apron carried by said arms and forming a continuation of the bowl bottom upon the blade being lowered whereby to prevent entry of dirt into the bowl during use of the blade and loss of the dirt during transportation.

4. The vehicle of claim 3 wherein the arms are connected at their forward ends by a cross-bar and the apron extends rearwardly from the bottom of the cross-bar and spans the space between the arms.

5'. The Vehicle of claim 3 wherein the apron extends rearwardly from the blade on a line spaced above its lower edge and spans the space between the arms.

6. A vehicle provided with a scoop bowl hav ing means for dumping the load, the scoop bowl being movably supported in such a manner that its cutting edge is adapted to be lowered below the ground level; said vehicle being characterized in that the scoop bowl is provided with a movable power actuated apron capable of closing said scoop bowl at the cutting edge, one of the walls of said apron being. at the same time shaped in the form of a bull-dozer blade. t HUGO CORDES. 

